Egypt manager accuses FIFA of supporting Argentina and Lionel Messi in extraordinary World Cup allegations

Egypt manager Hossam Hassan believes ‘external factors’ were at play during his side’s dramatic 3-2 defeat to Argentina at the World Cup.

The African side were minutes away from an incredible upset as goals from Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Ziko put them 2-0 up against the reigning world champions in the last-16.

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Egypt also had a goal controversially ruled out at 1-0, before Lionel Messi helped to inspire a dramatic comeback, which only started in the 79th minute.

The Argentina captain scored in between goals from Cristian Romero and Enzo Fernandez, although the winning goal left Egypt furious.

They believe Mohamed Salah was fouled by Alexis Mac Allister in the box before Fernandez scored at the other end.

VAR decided not to review the incident and pundits have pointed out that the challenge on Salah was not too dissimilar from the foul on Lisandro Martinez, which resulted in Egypt’s disallowed goal.

That, too, happened at the other end of the pitch long before the ball hit the back of the net.

In the immediate aftermath, Egypt goalkeeping coach Saafan El-Sagheer was shown a red card, while manager Hassan was booked and dragged away from the officials.

Goalscorer Ziko gave a distraught interview after the match, appearing to suggest the tournament had been ‘fixed’.

And now the Egypt boss has thrown similarly extraordinary allegations the way of FIFA.

The match was refereed by French official Francois Letexier and Hassan has revealed Egypt objected to this appointment.

He revealed prior concerns that the unsavoury history between France and Argentina at the World Cup could influence his decision-making.

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What did Hassan say?

Hassan launched a staggering attack on the match officials after the game, while also saying Argentina received support at ‘every level’.

He said: “We looked better than the reigning champions – better in everything – but the result was influenced by internal factors on the pitch and external factors off it.

“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.

“In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champion received support at every level.

“There seem to be pressures from the Argentina side on this outcome. We were objecting to the selection of the referee because of the French situation [Argentina beat France in the 2022 World Cup final], but everybody has to suffer at some point and we suffered.

“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. A penalty was ruled out [alleged foul on Mohamed Salah], it was not even checked by the VAR and our second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed.

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“We have all seen the shirt pulled back [by Mac Allister] and not even a VAR check. Life is unfair, normal life is unfair, so why is there no fairness in sports?

“I’m not convinced by this outcome and the way things unfolded in this match.

“I want to put it in beautiful words and say hard luck, but we have been treated unfairly and it has been an injustice.”

What did Ziko say?

In an interview conducted in Arabic, Ziko argued the game was rigged against Egypt and in favour of Argentina.

It should be noted there is no evidence to support these allegations.

Speaking through tears, Ziko said: “The referee was really not fair. Not fair.

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“The injustice was clear. We did a good job in the early stages of the match. There’s been an unfairness right from the start of the match.

“A 2-0 lead isn’t enough to beat Argentina. It’s clear that this tournament has been fixed.

“But God is sufficient for us.”